Grateful Dead Live at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 1983-06-20
Audio With External Links Item Preview
Share or Embed This Item
- Publication date
- 1983-06-20 ( check for other copies)
- Topics
- Dean Grabski
- Collection
- GratefulDead
- Band/Artist
- Grateful Dead
- Resource
- DeadLists Project
- Item Size
- 1.3G
New Minglewood Blues
They Love Each Other
Little Red Rooster
Peggy-O
My Brother Esau
Tennessee Jed
Hell InA Bucket
West L.A. Fadeaway
The Music Never Stopped
Set 2
China Cat Sunflower ->
I Know You Rider
Samson And Delilah
He's Gone ->
Truckin' ->
Drums ->
Space ->
Bob Star () ->
The Other One ->
Wharf Rat ->
Sugar Magnolia
Encore
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
Notes
Location: Outside on the lawn, slightly right of center about 30 ft from the repeaters. The sound was incredibly clear - of course you can hear the rain during quieter parts of the second set, but for those there it just adds to the intensity of the listening experience.
Notes: This is one of the most memorable Grateful Dead concerts I've attended. The weather and band were incredibly fierce. There are so many vivid memories of this night - of course the intense weather; there were record rainfall amounts set and huge bright lightning bolts filling the sky. The thoughts that go through ones head when lightning is crackling all over the place and you have an aluminum microphone stand (lightning arrestor) up in the air with a tape deck wired directly to your chest! Were we dedicated, insane or both? I remember the microphones owner dressed up in sailing foul weather gear looking like a mad ship captain around the mast -"ah mate bring it on".. There were others patched out of me and another rig or two set up during the 1st set but they all bailed shortly into the 2nd set or during the break.
During the 2nd set there were a few times when the power would go out, it's pretty wild to listen to since you can hear the stunned audience come up from the silence, then the power comes on with a speaker pop and Phil just wails!
Walking out I was completely stunned by the whole experience, getting into my car and trying to find a hotel since there was no way we were going to try to camp that night? Sorry for taking so long to share it with you.
Flaws: We didn't record drums since that would've taken one extra flip and with the weather
- Addeddate
- 2008-01-23 03:49:25
- Identifier
- gd1983-06-20.nak300.grabski.32795.sbefail.flac16
- Lineage
- Maxell XLIIS Master > Nakamichi DR-3 > Apogee MiniMe (16/44.1) > EGOSYS WT2496 (soundcard) > SoundForge 7 > CDWAVE 1.93.3 > FLAC frontend 1.7.1
- Location
- Columbia, MD
- Taped by
- Dean Grabski
- Transferred by
- Dean Grabski
- Type
- sound
- Year
- 1983
comment
Reviews
(28)
Subject: 40th Anniversary!
Subject: Wake of the Flood
Subject: told this show story..
How did this come back to me? My son found it on the web and shared it with me. His 1st show was at Hershey (Dead & Company) 2021. “Mom, I’ve been to several Firefly’s, but the atmosphere of A Dead Show is more than I could ever have imagined!”
Thank you Dean… we were near you, and I recall the sailor mic guy.
3rd generation deadheads in the making!
Thankful to hear this again 💜
Subject: Rooster
Reviews below me are amazing.
Subject: What a 1st show!
This show was an oasis in the middle of the awful stuffiness of the 80's.The decade I turned my radio off for good and listened to only what I chose...and the was mostly the good ol' Grateful Dead!
Subject: storm and rain
Subject: Fwoomp. I get up and fly away
Loved the Sugar Mag and Bobby's Eye ee Eye ee Ah for like 20 times.
We did Saratoga, both Merriweathers, and then Harrisburg with the tripped out Stranger...the best Stella Blue and the Harrisburg Deal. Harrisburg on City Island with the Orange Dove blotter. 83 was one of my best years on tour East coast, NOLA, Manor Downs, Red Rocks, Sante Fe and Greek Theatre.
This recording is a little fast, but I like it anyway.
Subject: nice quality except fast play back
Yes I was there- (~):^) favorite non-music memory of people swimming in the flood created lake by the top concession stand. We fit 5 people under a golf umbrella and the rain still came through the umbrella. I must admit the concert from the lawn, which was almost empty by second set, seemed a bit drowned out by natures own prowess. Although, when the two elements came crashing together with lightning strikes and power outages, I knew I'd never forget.
Subject: Guess I'm Old
Subject: If the thunder don't get you, then the lightning will
Subject: Single most INTENSE show ever!
For those of you who were not there - Read the comments and BELIEVE the passion behind them.
For those who were there - Remember this one forever!
I agree with many that have commented, that this was the most incredible experience of my Deadhead life. I saw somewhere between 95 - 100 (Lost count, sorry) shows myself. I was lucky enough to catch a New Year's show at end of '85 and also saw them once in an amusement park (Wonderland in Toronto anyone?), but this, by far, was the most mind blowing.
My best friend even ran away from home to go see this show! Rode a bus from Doylestown, PA and then hitch-hiked out of Baltimore. The whole story is amazing really involving spending the night outside the Sears customer pickup roof at the mall, hidden bags in the woods that we found after the show with lighters in the rain, etc. Another time for all that as I don't want to clog things up here.
THE SHOW! Oh my, what a show! I agree that the boys fed on the frenzied madness and energy of the crowd this night. For those who have never been to the Merriweather Post Pavilion I HIGHLY recommend it! If you are anywhere near that area go see a concert there, ANYTHING! It is set in the woods in suburbia and is just super cool.
I think this was only my 4th Dead show so I was still pretty new to the scene. The energy in the air was palpable. There was a buzz in the air (and in many heads) that is unlike anything I had experienced before, or since for that matter.
The first set was amazing in its own right, the playing was fantastic, the boys were grooving along with the crowd. It rained but we didn't care since we were in the pavilion near the left rear.
The second set was legendary. The RAIN, the RAIN, the RAIN! Wow I have never seen such an intense storm. I remember looking back at the "Mud People" over and over again, shaking my head. Many times it was like a waterfall coming off of the pavilion and you couldn't even see them. When it did slow down Mud People were sliding down the lawn a la Woodstock (the original one for you young folks) and it was total chaos!
China>Rider>Sampson was so freaking intense my brother blew a fuse. He kept asking my friend and I if we should go. We were like "Go? Go where?" His altered state couldn't stay there anymore and he left. The band then immediately started playing He's Gone (which was really creepy). I found out the next day he got so confused trying to get out he actually climbed the fence! He's the only one I know who ever scaled the fence to get OUT of a Dead show! LMFAO! The lightning strikes were absolutely INSANE and interrupted the sound multiple times, especially during Trucking, The Other One, and Wharf Rat. When you hear random cheers from the crowd during this show and you are wondering what it is, guaranteed it was because of a wicked lightning flash. While I am usually a fan of soundboards, this is a show where you should enjoy this clear audience copy and listen with your headphones. You can hear the energy build in the crowd as the night goes on, especially during lightning strikes. After Bobby does his "Aboriginee Rap" during Sugar Mag he says "So what do you think about that?" There is momentary pause and then this girl screams as her mind is completely split open as she processes what he just said. Absolutely priceless!
The next day there were cars under water, motorcycles under water, etc. Hell, I'm surprised there weren't people under the water. That place never recovered from that night. Neither did anybody who was there. That would be great to have some kind or reunion party like somebody suggested, it was THAT remarkable.
Peace!
Subject: Thank you Dean!
Subject: I told you that it would rain.
Subject: Don't let a little rain get you down
Subject: needs some fixing
Subject: The caddy
Subject: A RIPPER!!
And a performance of the highest order, from any era.
peace
like 83?
check out
9-2-83
10-11-83
10-22-83
Subject: Stormy Weather
Yet, ... this second one was different. The bus came by and I got on because of this show. Anyone that went to this show knows about the storm that showed up at the beginning of the second set and did not stop the entire time. Either the band played the weather - or the weather played the band.
Anyone remember walking through knee-deep water to get back to the cars? The bikers weeping because their parking spot was under water? T
Anyways, listen to 'Truckin' if nothing else. This is a band that keeps playing when the power cuts out, and Phil Lesh was pissed about that.
Subject: A Great Start
I listen to this show every birthday, thanks Dean for improving on the less-than-stellar recording I had before!
Subject: crazy fun essential
Listening to 69-77 always makes me wish that I'd been born twenty years earlier. This is one of the few later shows that makes me think being born just four or five years earlier would have been worthwhile, too. Oh well, keep working on that time machine...
Subject: Amazing
This is the best source. I just saved ... an upload since I thought a master tape in my possession was better, but it's not.
Subject: "What do you think about that?"
The playing was apocalyptic. Rock thumpers like Sugar Mag took on a crazed, late 60s energy. We all thought, the boys included, we'd die happy! Check out the dream rap in sugar mag and you'll know what to think about, to think about, to think about that. . .
Subject: Jerryweather!!
TLEO and Misc are awesome in the first, with the second being pretty much a total fest. Also, the recording quality is excellent--thanks!!
Subject: Dean & Ted are brave souls
Subject: Listen to PHIL!!! Thank you DEAN!
Ex
Subject: The best recording of this one.
The overpowering energy of the first set.
The p.a. drop-outs due to lightning.
Bob Star and Phil bomb to start the Other One.
Lighting ... strikes the sound stage in Wharf Rat.
Bobby goes insane during Sugar magnolias, talking about some aboriginal view of reality, and screaming his way like he thought the next lightning bolt will strike him.
This is the best source of the bunch. A fearless, powerful show.
Subject: thank you!
'dedicated or crazy'? thankfully for us, you were BOTH.
Subject: Thanks Dean
53,274 Views
88 Favorites
DOWNLOAD OPTIONS
IN COLLECTIONS
Grateful DeadUploaded by Matthew Vernon on